PokeRanch
by weirn018
Summary: Ashley K. has taken a break, kinda, from being a trainer. Moving to an island, starting a ranch, catching new pokemon and going on trips to Unova what else will happen? Fem!Ash.AshxCilan Later on.Kinda mix of Pokemon/Harvestmoon.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: Pika-Pal Ranch**

Ashley Ketchum, daughter of Delia Ketchum, was a strong Pokemon trainer for the most part. She got to the top 16 in the Indigo League, beat the Orange League, the top eight, the Hoenn League, won the Battle Frontier, and made the top four in Sinnoh. She made many friends and caught many Pokemon. But now things changed.

Brock and Dawn left her so they could do the things they needed to do. So 16-year-old Ashley was left to think about what _she _wanted to do. Professor Oak told her about the Vannile Islands-a group of islands that didn't really catch the attention of the Pokemon world. The Professor said that there weren't really any trainers on the island so she told him she would try farming or something while training on the side. Professor Oak called the island's mayor and got permission for Ashley to move there.

What really took the cake for Ashley was that the mayor said she could catch Pokemon on the island. Professor Oak said the Vannile Islands had a lot of different Pokemon mixed together. The mayor said it was okay to catch and train Pokemon. She even said that she would let Ashley have an old small house and the ranch land that wasn't used anymore. Ashley accepted the offer.

Delia, once she got over the fact that her daughter was leaving home, bought Ashley a Pokegear, a good few sets of shoes, lots of TP and toothpaste and toothbrushes, floss, a lot of plant seeds, and many Pokeballs. Delia got some quilts and blankets and some cookbooks from the neighbors. She even made Ashley clothes and gave her daughter a lot of money. Delia sent all of these items to the ranch house.

Ashley also got some help from a few unexpected places. Winona, the Fortree City gym leader, sent furniture to the ranch house for Ashley. Winona bought it for her as a thank you for giving her twelve good Fearows to train. Ashley had caught the strongest of the Fearow flock that had been bothering her old Pokemon.

Lt. Surge sent over a lot of stuff: a first-aid kit, sunscreen, work gloves, flashlights, store-bought Pokefood, and vitamins for her Pokemon.

Ericka sent her a lot of seeds.

Kurt sent her various types of Pokeballs.

Whitney gave her two young Milktank to train as her own along with Milktank care notes written by her uncle Milton.

She didn't even want to know how they all knew what she was planning! Although she had a strong suspicion that Sabrina, the psychic Saffron City gym leader had something to do with it. (Ashley had called her to check up on Haunter and ended up chatting with her for six hours, telling Sabrina all about her travels.)

Anyway, she safely arrived on the main island. Right after you dock you see Sai's Seaside Store. Then you go left and see a path that kinda goes parallel with the beach and another path that takes you further into the island. Take the path that goes away from the beach and it leads to the front of the church, a staircase that goes up a big hill, and another path. The staircase leads to the Mayor's house/office. The path leads to three houses and a library. The end of the path connects to both a dirt road and the road that stems from the beach. The road by the beach leads to the Copper General Store, the island clinic, an apartment building with two apartments with an abandoned building on one side and the Goldeen Inn and Machop Construction on the other side. The end of that road leads to three other paths: one leads to an old unused lighthouse, the other two lead to a staircase that will take you to the ranch land and house.

There was _a lot _that needed to be done to the fields and the house was a little small. The house had two rooms. One room had a futon bed, a small table, a chest, a cabinet, a small kitchen area, (with a mini fridge) and a bookcase. The other room was a bathroom.

Before the mayor left for the day she asked Ashley what she wanted to name the ranch. Ashley named it the Pika-Pal Ranch after her best pal Pikachu, and then the mayor left. Ashley and Pikachu lay down for bed as soon as the mayor was gone, exhausted and thinking about the interesting people they met today.

_..._

**Elle **was the mayor's daughter. She had orange hair and green eyes. She guided Ashley around most of the island. She has a positive attitude. She is twelve years old.

**Mayor Rosa **was Elle's mom. She had orange hair and brown eyes. She was kind and showed Ashley to the ranch.

**Tom **was the church's priest. He was around 6'11 and thin with chocolate brown hair and eyes. He was very calm. He lived in a different part of the church with his daughter.

**Angel, **Tom's daughter, had light brown hair and silver eyes. She looks to be best friends with Ren and friends with Tobi. She has a quiet voice like her father. She's nine years old.

**Sai **was the Seaside Store owner. He was only a hair taller than average height. He had a golden brown tan that many girls would kill for. Aqua hair and silver eyes. He talks and looks like a 'surfer dude' and is said to be a bit protective of his younger twin sister Mia. The twins are eighteen years old.

**Mia **is a little shorter than Sai. Mia had the same tan and hair color as her twin but her eyes were dark blue. She sounds like she has a cowgirl part of her along with her surfer part.

**Torren **was the man who ran the Goldeen Inn. He had graying hair and bark brown eyes. He worries about his son Barret.

**Barret **was a rebellious teen. He helped out at Machop Construction. Brown hair and red eyes. He's fifteen years old.

**Lunetta **ran the Machop Construction. Her green hair and silver eyes were very pretty. She seemed calm. She had a Machop, Sandslash, Magmar, Venusaur, and a Staryu with her. At one time she was a trainer.

**Ganma **was an old woman who helped at the clinic. Her real name wasn't Ganma, but she preferred to be called that because her grandson Jun called her that instead of 'grandma'. She's excitable and happy for her old age. She loved to tell stories about her 'charming' grandson when he was a baby whenever he could. (Much to Jun's embarrassment.)

**Jun **was the island's doctor. He has black hair, squinty eyes, and thin framed glasses. He wasn't a trainer, but he has some Pokemon friends that help him around the clinic. They are Azurill, Chansey, and Chimecho.

**Sara **the librarian has a steely glare as a neutral expression, long black hair in two braids and sharp purple eyes. Her face does soften when you talk to her politely. Mother of Ren, Tobi, and Karina and the wife of Ron.

**Ron **has silver blue hair and the body of a body builder. He has a sweet and shy personality and cooks at the Goldeen Inn.

**Karina **has long wavy silver hair and purple eyes. She looks like she's half asleep. She is seventeen years old.

**Ren&Tobi- **They both have black hair that spikes wildly and blue eyes. Ren is the more independent one while Tobi refers to himself in third person. Both are nine years old.

**Harvey **is the one that nearly scared her into having a heart attack. Harvey is Harley's older brother and looks nearly just like him. Harvey wears a brown shirt and pants but the same shoes as Harley. His personality is a lot calmer than Harley's and a whole lot nicer. He runs the General Store and has a Furret named Little Lady or just lady for short. Harvey makes berry jam, especially Oran berry jam which is Lady's favorite.

_..._

_Next Morning, 6 AM_

*Knock, knock*

Yawning, Ashley got up and answered the door. Harvey and Lady stood in the doorway.

"Morning, hon. Sorry to wake you up so early, but Mayor Rosa asked me to talk to you about some things."

"It's okay. I needed to get up early anyway to start de-weeding the area around the house. I'm just about to make some breakfast. Want any?"

"Furret!" Lady said before bolting into the house, her happy call waking up Pikachu.

Chuckling, Harvey said, "Well, I think Lady already said yes so I'll stay for some too."

Ashley cooked up some pecha-berry pancakes for the four of them. "So, Harvey, what did you come here to talk about?"

"Well, you see, I came to tell you that as a rancher you can have as many Pokemon as you think you can handle at one time on the ranch with you."

"Really?" ("Pika?")

"Yeah. Ranches or farms are allowed to have as many Pokemon as the people running it can handle. You're still only allowed to have six Pokemon with you when you're traveling off the island though."

"That's fine with me."

"Okay. There's a dirt path at the back of your ranch. If you follow it down the hill you'll see four paths. The first will lead you around to the front of the hill. Between the two are four abandoned houses and an abandoned schoolhouse. The second path leads to a forest with a few caves. The third path leads to a river. The fourth and final path goes to the back door of the library."

"Okay, got it."

"Ok, now if it's alright with you, would you be willing to go to the Unova region to do some chores there?"

"Unova? Chores?"

"Yeah. The Unova region is kinda close by. We need someone to deliver things or messages there. Normally, it takes months to send something there through regular mail. Since the only people with Pokemon here before you came aren't really willing to travel and we can't have someone traveling through wild Pokemon infested areas with no experience we couldn't send someone over to personally deliver those things. We were hoping that you would agree to do that."

"Could I catch Pokemon in that region? What about my Pokemon here? Oh! And you might want to protect your food," Ashley said with a bit of a daze in her voice.

Harvey looked at his plate and saw Lady trying to eat his pancakes. "Lady!"

Lady fled to the safety of the futon's blankets.

*sigh* "Well, anyway, hon, as long as you ask someone to feed them and stuff they'll be fine. And if you wanna catch Pokemon there, just ask the region's head professor."

"Okay! I'll do it. I'm assuming you'll let me settle down first."

Harvey nodded while he and Ashley started eating their food. After the food was gone and everything was cleaned up they continued to talk.

"Lady happens to be the only Pokemon I've ever had. I'm kinda envious of you, hon. I don't know if I could handle training a lot of Pokemon, but it would be nice to have some more on my team."

"Then catch some more. You don't need to catch a lot. You could just have a team of six and you'd be fine. I'll even help you train."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" ("Pika!")

Harvey stood in his spot for a while with a head-in-the-clouds look. He looked down and saw Lady tugging on his pants with a determined look.

"Lady... you want me to catch some new friends and battle some more, don't you?"

"Furr-et!" Lady said, pumping her paw in the air. Her big blue bow did not distract her trainer and long time friend from the twinkle in her eye.

"Hey, alright, Ms. Farmer. I'll take you up on that offer," Harvey said with excitement in his voice.

"Ms. Farmer?" Ashley tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, I was going to nickname you Ms. Rancher, but Ms. Farmer sounded better. Anyway, if you ever need something to do for cash just ask around the businesses here to do a part-time job. See ya," Harvey said before leaving.

"Nice guy, unlike his brother, right Pikachu?"

"Pika-Pika-chu." _Yeah, really nice. _

"Okay, let's de-weed the field for a while then call the Professor. It's going to be a good day.

**Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One: Time at Home**

"Sceptile, Leaf Blade! Gible, use Dig! Bayleef, Razor Leaf!" Ashley called out.

Gible tunneled around the area, shifting the soil on the surface. Sceptile ran through the area, using Leaf Blade to cut up all the weeds he could find while racing against Bayleef who was doing the same. The two grass types stopped when all the weeds in the area were gone. Ashley went around tallying up the points.

"Well it looks like Bayleef won this round, Sceptile; she cut up the most weeds. So the record is now Sceptile-15, Bayleef-10. Good work, you two. Now let's see which one of you can catch Gible," Ashley said as they turned and tried to catch Gible.

Ashley shook her head then walked around to the front of the house, knowing it would take them a while to catch the little land shark. On the side of the house Donphan, Momo, (youngest female Milktank-Angel named her) and Miss Milk (Ren named her) were using Rollout to make rows in the newly tilled soil. Quilava would go in between them and use Quick Attack to plant seeds. Totodile, riding on top of Staraptor, was watering the seeds with a Water Gun from the air.

Ashley smiled and then went up to the front of the house. Unlike the side and back, the front was finished and growing. The Oran, Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Sitrus, Rawst, Leppa, and Persim berries were already bearing fruit. While the Lum, Figy, Wiki, Mago,, Lapapa, Razz, Bluk, Nonab, and Wepear berry plants were still growing. Pikachu used Thundershock to knock some berries off the trees while Swellow cut some off with Aerial Ace. Buizel was catching the berries in a basket.

"Okay, guys, I think that's enough berries for today. Buizel, you go near the lighthouse and practice the Whirlpool attack you're learning. Swellow, you go let Momo and Miss Milk know they can take a break. Tell Quilava to go practice his fire attacks by the ocean, and tell Totodile that he can relax. You and Staraptor can either relax, talk with the wild flying types, or practice you air battling skills. I'll wait for Sceptile and Bayleef to come see me with Gible, then I'm taking the berry basket to the General Store to sell them," Ashley said. Swellow gave a quick salute before flying off.

Buizel went off to the lighthouse. Pikachu hopped onto Ashley's shoulder as she went to her own patch and picked some fruits and vegetables. She put them in a basket. A tap on her shoulder made Ashley turn. Sceptile stood with a small pout. Bayleef, however, had Gible in her vines.

"Well, the catch-the-Gible score is now Bayleef-13, Sceptile-7, Quilava-5, and Ashley-1. Don't worry about it, Sceptile. We all have our off days. It's break time. Gible, you stay here and play for a bit, but don't destroy anything, okay?" Ashley said before walking off. When she got close to the Machop Construction something was trying to grab the basket. Lifting up the basket she saw a familiar sight.

"D-Duskull!"

"Well, hello to you too, Duskull. You looking for Harvey again or do you just want some munchies?"

This Duskull was an oddity of sorts. It was smaller than average and loved the sunlight. The first time she met the little ghost Pokemon was when Totodile went off for a bit and came back dancing in a conga line with a shiny Ralts, Kirlia, Chatot, shiny Shinx, Drifloon, and Duskull himself. Ashley didn't even want to know where he went or what he did. While Ralts, Kirlia, Chatot, Shinx, and Drifloon only came by for food and fun every now and then, Duskull liked to hang out around the townspeople more than the other wild Pokemon. He also really liked Harvey and stays with him the longest.

"Dusk-skull!"

"Alright, you can come with us to see Harvey."

Ashley started walking again. Going into the store, she saw Harvey taking a jelly jar off Lady's head.

"Hey, Harvey. Lady tried to steal Oran berry jam from your fridge again?" Ashley guessed.

"Yes, hon. She always forgets it's harder to get her head out of the jar than to get it in," Harvey said, pulling the jar off her head. Duskull grabbed the jar from Harvey and placed it on a high shelf.

"Thanks, Dusk. So, I see you've brought your next shipment. Just leave it on the counter, hon, and I'll send you the money tonight." Duskull started playing with Lady. *sigh* "I wish I had some Pokeballs with me so Duskull could join the team."

"Oh, that's right. It takes about two months for the Pokeball companies to send something here because it's so far out and not very well-known."

"Yeah, it takes a while."

Smiling, Ashley reached into her pocket and put the contents into Harvey's hand.

"Oh! Pokeballs!"

"I gave you three Healballs, two Lureballs, two Friendballs, two Greatballs, and a Moonball, along with five regular Pokeballs. Keep them, and put them to good use."

"Oh, I will, hon. Dusk, come here for a minute," Harvey said. Duskull went over to Harvey as he expanded a Pokeball and put the others in his work apron pocket. "Dusk, do you want to be a part of my team?"

"Dusk!" exclaimed the ghost Pokemon before his new trainer pressed the center button and he disappeared in a flash of red light. Three shakes and a 'ping!' later, Duskull was captured inside the Pokeball. Harvey called him out and said to Duskull, "Welcome to the family, Dusk!"

Dusk did a few happy laps around the store.

Suddenly Tobi ran into the store panting, "Tobi need help! Tobi need help!"

"Whoa! Hold on, Tobi. Where's the fire?" Ashley asked.

Tobi took a deep breath and said, "Tobi and brother and Angel were playing near tall grass. Pokemon got angry and attacked us. Tobi got scared and ran. But brother and Angel didn't follow!"

"Oh crud. That's not good! Lady, come with me; we need to do something!"

"Ferret!" Lady said before hurrying after Harvey. Duskull followed behind Lady.

"Come on, Pikachu! We have to go as well!" yelled Ashley with Tobi not too far behind.

"Pika!"

When they got to the tall grass they saw a Shelgon and a Mightyena attacking each other while a Swablu and a shiny Riolu were both attacking two Kirlia, one shiny and one not.

Ashley recognized the Kirlia and said, "When did the shiny Ralts evolve?"

"Now's not the time to be thinking about that, hon! I'll take the Mightyena and the Swablu along with the green Kirlia. You take the Shelgon, the Riolu, and the shiny Kirlia. They're too close to Ren and Toby for my liking."

Ashley saw the two hiding behind a nearby tree.

"Right. Pikachu, use Thundershock on the shiny Kirlia and shiny Riolu. Then use Volt Tackle on Shelgon!"

In doing so Pikachu paralyzed both the shiny Pokemon who clearly had less experience. Seeing the two disappear inside the Pokeballs she threw, Ashley turned her attention to the Shelgon.

Harvey seemed to be holding his own. Shelgon released a Dragon Breath.

"Pikachu! Use your tail as a spring and jump off the ground!"

Pikachu used his tail to push himself up higher than he normally would, dodging the Dragon Breath.

While he was in the air, Ashley called, "Quick! Spin yourself around and use Volt Tackle."

In doing so, Pikachu became an electric spinning missile that hit Shelgon with a lot of force. The Shelgon, who already had sustained damage from the fight with Mightyena, went down.

Ashley threw an Ultra ball, effectively catching the Pokemon.

Sighing, she went and picked up the Pokeballs containing the three new Pokemon she now had.

She called out to Harvey, "You doing okay?"

"Yup!" He bounced over. "I just added four new members to the team in one day! But I think we should get them over to see Doctor Jun."

…

At the island clinic Dr. Jun wiped his brow as he came out into the waiting room.

"They're all healed and ready to go," Jun said, handing Harvey five Poke balls (Lady, Dusk, Mightyena, Swablu, and Kirlia) and Ashley three Pokeballs as Pikachu ran up to her to climb onto her shoulder. "Then children are unharmed but grounded."

"I see. That's good-that they aren't hurt, that is," Ashley said, thinking.

"By the way, Ashley, Mayor Rosa asked if you could do something for her. She probably wants you to do something in Unova. She stopped by earlier to look for you," Jun said.

"Oh! Harvey, could you-" Ashley started to ask, but Harvey held up one hand.

"Don't worry, hon. I'll watch over your ranch. Just leave me a list of things to do and call to update me," Harvey said.

"Thanks. Now I have to go talk to the Mayor."

**Review please!**

_Dear Readers,_

_I would just like to apologize for the delay. Weirn gives me the chapters to edit and type up, and first I lost the pages, then I had some trouble putting them in order. So I apologize._

_-DuckieLover151_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two: Jobs in Unova, Plan For the Island**

"Okay, Ashley, do you have everything?" Mayor Rosa asked.

"Harvey's looking after the ranch, and my Pokemon, I have my supplies, Pokemon, pictures, and the packages you gave me. The only thing I don't have is the information on where these things are going, Mayor Rosa."

"Oops, heh, heh, sorry about that. Well, the packages are for Lunetta's cousins. The one tied with the red string goes to Don George in the city just before Striation…"

Ashley cocked an eyebrow and Rosa sweat-dropped.

"I forgot the name of the city. The one with the blue string goes to the Don George in Nacrene City. The one wrapped in brown paper is a fossil Lunetta found a long time ago and just found again after cleaning out the attic. She said to just send it to Lenora, the archeologist in Nacrene City. And the large envelope is filled with the stuff you asked fore. I hope they accept your idea. It would be a nice change to have."

"I hope so too."

"Hey, dudette! It's time to set sail!" Sai called out from the boat.

"Ah! Coming!" Ashley said before jumping onto the boat. After getting on, the boat sped away from the main island and past one of the four side islands.

Mai clamped Ashley's shoulder.

"Hey, since Sai's busy steering the boat, let's fish together. It'd be nice to fish with another gal," Mai said happily.

"Sure, but is it okay if I let out the Pokemon I have with me?"

"Yeah, 'course. The boat's big enough," Sai said from the other side of the boat.

Smiling, Ashley let Kirlia and Shelgon out of their Pokeballs. Kirlia began to explore the boat. Shelgon just went over to Ashley before plopping down and falling asleep. Pikachu joined Kirlia.

"Hey, where's that Riolu ya caught? And why did you bring them instead of the Pokemon you've had for a while?" Mai asked, confused.

"Oh, well, Riolu is practically a baby and needs to be taken care of, so I asked my mom to watch her 'till I get back. I took Kirlia because she needs more battle experience and because she knows teleport. I took Shelgon because he's a Pokemon that I need to bond with a little more."

Mai nodded and brought out the fishing poles.

…Six Hours Later…

Ashley got off the boat after four hours of fishing with Mai and two hours napping in the shady part of the boat. The Nuvema Town port was very alive with many people. Sai and Mai waved at her before heading out.

"Ashley, what are you doing here?" an old voice called. Ashley turned and saw Professor Oak in his vacation duds.

"I'm doing something for Mayor Rosa, and I'm guessing you're on vacation."

The professor chucked. "Something like that. Your mom is here as well, along with Rosy."

Pikachu tilted his head, and Ashley's eyebrow went up. "Rosy?"

"Riolu. Rosy the Riolu. Your mother named her."

"Ah. That explains it."

_BOOM!_

"What the hell?" Ashley looked up and saw a dark cloud with lightning shooting out of it. Blue lightning to be more exact. Looking at the cloud, she saw a shape. "Is that some type of Pokemon?"

"Pika!"

Ashley whipped around and saw that Pikachu had gotten closer to the Pokemon in the clouds. Running closer to her long-time friend and partner she felt that he was in danger. As the next strike lit up the sky Ashley dove and shielded Pikachu. Her vision went black.

…...

"Agh… Did anyone get the name of that thing that hit me?" Ashley mumbled to herself. Her body had never felt this sore.

"Ashley! Sweetie, you're up!" The voice of her mother.. Wait her mother?

Ashley opened her eyes and saw her mother looking over her worriedly. Rosy was also there, looking at her with a worried look. Sitting up with a little help, she saw that she was in a guest room. Looking around, she saw her arms and legs were wrapped in bandages. She also felt bandages on her back and a few on her forehead.

"Woah… I really got hurt this time."

"It's not as bad as it looks, but it is still bad," an unfamiliar voice reached Ashley's ears.

Looking to her left, she saw a pretty looking young woman with brown hair and a lab coat enter with Professor Oak behind her.

"You basically have minor electrical burns and some bad bruising. You'll be fine in about three weeks. I do have to say that you have an amazingly high tolerance for electrical shocks. You've only been out for a few hours."

"Ashley Roxxana Ketchum, you gave me the worst scare of my life!" Professor Oak scolded.

Ashley winced at being scolded by her father figure.

_Man, I haven't been scolded like this since before I started my journey with Pika- _"PIKACHU!" Ashley screamed before jumping to her feet. "Where's Pikachu?"

"Sweetie, relax. He's fine. Professor Juniper says nothing happened to him. She gave all your Pokemon a check-up."

"Where are my Pokemon?" Ashley asked slowly, a mixture of worry and demanding in her voice as she looked at the women she guessed was Professor Juniper.

"They're two rooms down to the left," Professor Juniper said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Ashley ran out of the room like a Zubat out of hell.

Prof. Oak shook his head and said, "That girl never changes."

…

Opening the door as quietly as she could, Ashley looked in on her sleeping Pokemon. Seeing all three sleeping quietly, she sighed in relief and closed the door.

"See, they're just fine," Professor Juniper said behind her.

Ashley asked, "Are you the professor in charge of giving people their Pokemon license?"

She nodded her head and said, "Why, yes. I am."

"Good. I need to talk to you."

…Lab Eating Area…

Ashley pulled out a large envelope from her backpack and pulled out a large group of pictures and a small black envelope.

Ashley spread the pictures around the table so that the Professor could see them clearly.

"Oh my," said Professor Juniper, picking up a photo. In the photo was a grassy area filled with Rattata and Sentret, a pair of patrat, and a Seedot playing together.

Putting that photo down, she picked up another. This photo had Swablu, some Tailow, and some Pidove, perching on top of a roof.

Another photo showed various water type Pokemon playing in the ocean with Sai and Mai.

In other pictures were ghost Pokemon hanging around old buildings, fire Pokemon in hot springs, rock Pokemon in caves, and various other Pokemon.

"Wow, these are some pretty good photos. And look at all the different Pokemon in them," Professor Juniper said.

"All these pictures were taken on the Vanille Islands. But many of the people on the main island are not Pokemon trainers so they can't travel around to many places. I was hoping you'd let me help these people become trainers. You know, give them Pokeballs, and if they exceed the limit, send the Pokemon here for you to study them."

"Hmm…" said the Professor. "Well, I guess I could set something like that up. It would be nice to have some Pokemon from different regions here. But you'd have to get them starter Pokemon. Do you have any idea which Pokemon you're going to give them the choice to train?"

"I talked with Harvey about it, and we were thinking we could talk to some of the other Professors to see if they had any starter Pokemon that weren't picked. That way the Pokemon would find some trainers to take care of them on the Vanille Islands."

"Hmm… That's actually a good idea. I'd be happy to let the Pokemon stay at my lab. I'll even send some of the research books to the library on the island," Professor Juniper said.

"It is a great idea and if she can't take some of the Pokemon, I'll be happy to let them stay at my lab. I have a starter Pokemon to send to you as soon as you get everything settled. I'll call the other professors while you do your work here," Professor Oak said.

"That's great, Ashley. But what's the black envelope for?" Delia Ketchum asked while Rosy tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh. Harvey and I talked with Lunetta, the one who took the pictures. She said that bad storms are rare, but every now and then one will hit and either scare or hurt the Pokemon around it. She got some pictures of past storm damage and injured Pokemon. Harvey wrote the letter that I'm sending to Jackie, the Pokemon Ranger. Hopefully the Ranger Union can help with the damage that is caused."

"Sounds like you've had a lot of help with this," Professor Oak said.

Ashley sighed and said, "Yeah. I had the idea, but without help I never would have gotten it all organized."

"And I assume that while you're here you're planning to catch some Pokemon from this region as well," Professor Oak said with a knowing smile.

Ashley rubbed the back of her head shamelessly. "Yeah. I was planning to ask Professor Juniper about that."

Professor Juniper said, "I don't mind. Since you're planning to start your deliveries tomorrow, I suggest we all get a good night's sleep."

Ashley smiled, looking forward to the next day, and no one noticed a glowing blue mark, sparking on the back of Ashley's neck.

**Review please! I'm sorry it took so long to get the chapter up. My cousin and I (duckielover151) have both started school again, and we are very busy. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**We don't own Pokemon!**

**Believe me, if I did, they never would have gotten away with getting rid of Brock.**

**NEXT TIME: Ashley meets Trip, Iris, and gains new group members.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three: Trip to Iris**

Ashley was wide awake at 5:45 in the morning. This was because her body was used to her waking up to prepare for her morning breakfast with Harvey. The guy sorta became an older brother figure to her, even if he was an unholy, happy morning person. Sighing, she got up and dressed for the day ahead of her. She walked out of the room in a sleeveless turtle neck and light blue overalls, work boots, work gloves, and a red hairband. She walked into the lab's kitchen and started cooking. Mrs. Ketchum walked in around 6:20 and saw her daughter washing her plate and Ashley's Pokemon eating. She just stared questionably.

"I've grown used to getting up to eat with a friend. He's a morning person," mumbled Ashley when she saw her mother's stare. Delia just nodded and went to make breakfast for the rest of the people in the lab with Ashley helping. After everyone ate, Ashley went out and trained with Kirlia and Shelgon with Rosie and Pikachu cheering on the sidelines. Then they healed up before Ashley called Jakie. He wasn't there, but she was able to get his email address. She scanned the pictures then typed up her message to him before sending it.

"Ashley, Professor Juniper said a new trainer is coming in about ten minutes and wants to know if you want to be there," Professor Oak said as Ashley got up from her seat.

"Sure, sounds like fun," Ashley said.

"Pikachu." **(A/N from now on I'll use ~ to show what a Pokemon is really saying.) **~Yeah.~

Ashley went out of the room to go to Professor Juniper. When she found Professor Juniper, the professor handed her a Unova Pokedex.

"Thanks, Professor!" Ashley said.

"You're welcome. Now, let's go greet the new trainer," Professor Juniper said as she pushed a cart into the lobby with Ashley following behind her.

_Trip's POV_

It's finally time to start my Pokemon journey. I've been looking forward to this. I turn around when I hear the lab doors open. I see the professor walking in, pushing a cart with a girl walking behind her. That girl sticks out and it's not just because she looks like a farm girl. She's covered in bandages.

"Hi, I'm Ashley, it's nice to meet you," the girl said, waving at me.

"What happened to you?" Okay, I did not mean to be rude, but she was literally covered in bandages. I mean, that had to hurt.

"Huh? Oh, you mean why I'm covered in bandages. It's nothing really. I just got hit by some lightning. I have a high tolerance to electricity so it's not as bad as it looks. Just a few electrical burns and some bruising."

Okay… this is one weird girl.

"Trip, right?" Professor Juniper said. I turned my attention to her and nodded.

"All right, here are your Pokedex and five Pokeballs," she said, handing me my equipment. "Now it's time to chose your starter Pokemon. First up is the fire starter, Tepig."

A small red, dark brown, and yellow piglet came out of the Pokeball. I opened my Pokedex and scanned it.

_Tepig, the fire pig Pokemon. It blows fire through its nose. It breaths out black smoke when ill._

"Cool. Fire type starters usually have the highest attack power of the three," the Ashley girl said, looking at the Tepig. I looked at Tepig. It seemed to be a little lacking in its will to try traveling.

"Next up is the water starter Oshawott," the professor said. A small otter-like Pokemon came out. I turned my Pokedex toward it.

_Oshawott, the sea otter Pokemon. It fights using the scalchop on its stomach. It retaliates immediately by slashing._

"Water Pokemon come in handy during a Pokemon trainer's journey and are very adaptable. Aww, aren't you a cutie," Ashley said the first part to me and the last part to Oshawott.

That Pokemon seems to be more fit for a girl, Trip thought as he saw it do a cute act.

"Finally, the grass starter Snivy," the professor said, letting the little grass snake out. I turned my Pokedex to it.

_Snivy, the grass snake Pokemon. It is very intelligent and calm. Being exposed to a lot of sunlight makes its movements swifter._

The Ashley girl blinked before smiling. "Wow, this little guy could be your little Pokemon twin. You both have the same eyes. You two would be perfect together."

Okay, at that I raised my eyebrows a little. Then I looked at Snivy a little more… Strangely enough, I felt a connection to him.

"I choose Snivy to be my starter, Professor."

_Back to Normal POV_

As Trip was walking away from the lab Ashley ran up to him. "Hey, Trip."

Trip turned and looked at Ashley. Ashley handed him a Heal Ball and a small bag. "Here, have these. I think the Heal Ball would come in handy, and the bag has a few poffins in it. I made too many of them earlier this morning. I was going to give them to the professor, but I think it would be better to give them to you."

"Uh, thanks," Trip said, taking the stuff.

"Pika-chu!" ~You're welcome!~

Trip blinked when he saw Pikachu, then pulled out his camera and started taking pictures. Pikachu, who was behind Ashley's legs earlier, sweat-dropped at Trip while on Ashley's shoulder.

"Err… not to be rude…. but why are you taking pictures of Pikachu?"

"Are you slow or something? That's a really rare Pokemon to see here in Unova."

"Wow, I guess not many trainers from different regions come here because I've met quite a few trainers with a Pikachu during my travels ever since I left Pallet Town," Ashley said.

"Pallet Town? You mean that place where boonyes come from?" Trip said with arrogance before looking at Ashley to see she was giving off a glare that would make an Aggron turn tail and run.

"Okay, listen here, you brat. Don't insult the town I grew up in," Ashley said in a low, deadly voice. "How old are you?"

"…Ten."

"Well, then, let me give you a little advice. When a trainer who has six years worth of experience under their belt is being kind to you, don't insult their hometown," Ashley said, calming down.

Trip nodded before a light bulb went off in his head. "Wait, so your Pikachu must be strong, right?"

Ashley just nodded.

Trip smirked. "So let's have a battle," he said, wanting to test the strength of Unova Pokemon against Pokemon from other regions.

"All right, I don't mind," Ashley said with a smile.

They gave each other room.

"Snivy, come out, time for battle," Trip said, bringing out Snivy.

"Pikachu, you know what to do, buddy," Ashley said before Pikachu nodded and ran onto the field.

"Snivy, Tackle!" Snivy ran forward in a charge.

"Pikachu, hit it with Iron Tail." Pikachu's tail glowed, hit Snivy on the head, and sent it back. Snivy stubbornly got up.

"Snivy, Vine Whip," Trip called out.

"Pikachu, use Electric Missile!"

"What the heck kinda attack is that?" Trip shouted. He then saw Pikachu run towards Snivy's vines with a Quick Attack. Pikachu jumped onto one of Snivy's vines, used it as a spring board, and jumped at Snivy while using Volt Tackle. Snivy flew back and hit a tree.

"Snivy!" Trip called out. He ran up to his now K.O.'d Pokemon. Trip carefully picked up Snivy. Snivy soon came to.

Ashley and Pikachu went up to Trip and Snivy and Ashley handed him a bottle of juice. "Here, give this to Snivy. It's made of Leppa, Oran, Lum, and Sitrus berries along with some herbs that Dr. Jun mixed in to help Pokemon feel better," Ashley said.

Trip took the juice and helped Snivy drink it. "That was a great first battle, Trip. Hope we can do it again some time," Ashley said before running inside with Pikachu close behind.

_Two Hours Later: Path to Accumula Town_

Ashley sighed as she walked down the path. It took a while to convince Professor Oak to let Shelgon come with her as he wanted to study Shelgon-he didn't get to study a lot of dragon Pokemon. She promised to go to the lab in Pallet before she headed back to her ranch. She had an overdue appointment with an old friend she needed to find anyway. She called Harvey up to tell him that she was going to be a few days later than originally planned. He was fine with that, but he went into mother hen mode two when he saw her covered in banages and it took some time and energy to calm him down.

A small green Pokemon came out of some bushes in front of her. Ashley pulled out her new Pokedex.

_Axew, the tusk Pokemon. They use their tusks to crush the berries they eat. Repeated regrowth makes their tusks strong and sharp._

"Hmm… says Axew is a dragon type," Ashley said, putting her Pokedex back, she called out Shelgon. "Hey, Shelgon, could you go and talk with that little dragon Pokemon for a bit? I want to get closer to it."

Shelgon nodded before going to Axew. "Shel-gon." ~Hey, kiddo.~

Axew turned to Shelgon. ~Huh? What are you?~

~Name's Shelgon, I'm a dragon Pokemon.~

~A DRAGON?~ Axew said in shock before going around Shelgon and studying him.

Being a 'teenager' Shelgon got a little annoyed at Axew, but his nature made it so he didn't care so much, even when Axew poked him a few times.

"Bet you're curious about Shelgon, huh?" Ashley said, now standing by Shelgon. Axew turned to Ashley and stared at her. "You see, Shelgon's a dragon Pokemon from a different place. Here, let me show you something." Ashley took a Pecha berry from her bag then tossed it high in the air.

"Shelgon, use Dragon Breath!"

Shelgon fired a purple flame and cooked the Pecha berry as it fell. Shelgon stopped and Pikachu caught the cooked berry and brought it to Ashley. Axew clapped for a bit before going into a nearby bush. Ashley raised an eyebrow but waited for Axew to come back. Soon a younger looking girl popped out of the bush with Axew.

"A dragon Pokemon! Awesome! Where did you catch him? How long have you had him? Is he hard to train?" the girl rattled off while hugging Shelgon. She kept her excited chatter going… until Shelgon Head Butted her and sent her flying a few feet.

~Gasp! Finally! Air!~

~Sorry, Shelgon. She gets a little overexcited.~ Axew said.

"Sorry about that!" Ashley said, helping the strange girl up.

"No, it's okay. I get overexcited whenever I see dragon type Pokemon."

"To answer your first three questions in order, near my ranch, three days, and no, he's actually a very easy Pokemon to get along with."

"Oh. My name's Iris. I'm training to be a dragon master."

"My name's Ashley, my friends back on the island where I live now call me Ms. Farmer, though I actually run a ranch now. I also train Pokemon. Right, buddy?"

"Pikachu!" ~Right!~

"Oh my gosh! It's a Pikachu!" Iris said before squeezing him in a hug and blabbing off in excitement again. As Pikachu shocked Iris, Ashley only sighed.

After talking a while they started traveling together. But soon Pikachu and Axew were grabbed by mechanical arms.

"Pikachu!"

"Axew!"

They turned and saw Team Rocket. "Oh, great, you guys." was all Ashley said to them. She quickly explained Jessie, James, and Meowth to Iris as they did their motto.

"Shelgon! Kirlia! I need your help," she said, calling out her newest friends. When they came out they looked ready to help. "Kirlia, use Confusion and get the thing holding Pikachu and Axew! Shelgon, use Ember on Team Rocket!"

"Woobat! Blow that Ember away using Gust!" Jessie said, calling out a bat-like Pokemon.

The Woobat diverted the Ember away in time…only to get hit by a WaterGun from the side. Ashley blinked as an Oshawott come out and stood next to Shelgon. Ashley blinked before refocusing back on the matter at hand. Meowth was trying to keep the machine he had from coming over to Iris and her. Jessie recalled Woobat.

"Meowth, stop that, we should retreat for now," Jessie sneered at the fact that she had lost.

"She's right, Meowth," James agreed.

"All right, fine. Don't think this is over, twerpettes!" Meowth said, letting go of the machine and Team Rocket then flew off… in jetpacks?

"Err… okay… Team Rocket being smart for once. That's just weird beyond thought," Ashley said with a sweat-drop forming at the back of her head.

~Tell me about it~ Pikachu said with a sweat-drop on his own head. Now with both Pikachu and Axew free, Ashley studied the Oshawott that helped them for ten minutes. "You're the Oshawott from the lab, right?"

~Yup!~ Oshawott said, nodding then clinging to Ashley's leg, smiling.

"Oh! Did you want to come with me?"

~You bet!~ Oshawott said and let out a happy cry.

"All right. I'll call the professor and get your Pokeball," Ashley said cheerfully.

**Review please!**

**We still don't own Pokemon. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I Skipped a few episodes because I felt that I didn't really need to write them out. This chapter is when Ashley and Iris arrive in Striaton City. A brief overview of the skipped chapters will be provided.**

**In regards to that, the part with the pull cart wasn't an actual episode; it was just something I thought would be a good idea.**

**Chapter Four: Meet the Brothers; Part One**

Ashley was really glad she reached the city when she did. It had been a long few days. First, there was the incident with a Sandile and a spa resort; after they figured out the Sandile was trying to protect the people and Pokemon from a geyser, they helped out. It was easy for Kirlia to carry the trapped Pokemon on over the steaming water with Confusion, but it did wear her out. With the Pokemon safe and the trouble over, the group enjoyed the spa's new hot spring. (Though Ashley was a little upset that the Sandile with the sunglasses went away so soon; he reminded her of Squirtle, only a little less prankster-ish.)

Next, they arrived in Accumula Town and went to the Battle Club. Ashley found the Don George there (she found it a little scary that Lunetta's male cousins were like the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys in certain ways) and gave him the package from Lunetta. Ashley also met an old Pokemon of Lunetta's, a Simipour, that stayed with that Don George. He was... a very overly friendly Pokemon. (_*cough* _hug of death _*cough*_) Ashley helped get rid of Team Rocket and caught an abandoned Tepig, that joined her current team of Oshawott, Pidoves(she was caught earilier), Kirlia, Pikachu and Bayleef (Shelgon was bored so she sent him to Professor Oak and got Bayleaf sent to her from the island) at the Battle Club the next day before leaving.

Then on the way to Striaton City, Ashley and Iris met an elderly couple and their granddaughter whose pull cart broke. Ashley, who'd learned from a similar experience with Harvey's push cart, knew what to do. She had Bayleaf cut a part of an old stump with a Razor Leaf and then got the couple's Liepard to carefully cut out a small hole in it to make a replacement wheel. Kirlia and Iris held the cart while the replacement wheel was put on. The elderly couple, who later said they were breeders, gave them each a Pokemon to raise as thanks. Iris got a male Pansear, and Ashley well, female Pansage chose to go with her. After some convincing Ashley and Iris let the granddaughter nickname them. (Ashley: "Damn puppy-Growlithe eyes; That was how Miss Milk and Momo had gotten their names too.") Pansear was now called Heat, and Pansage was now… Pansy.

Now, as Striaton City came into view she was really happy. She planned to spend around three days there to rest and train her team before traveling to Nacrene City.

"Finally, Striaton City," Ashley said with relief.

"What a kid, the walk wasn't that bad," Iris said smugly.

"Oh, really? Then maybe I should have never picked _you_ up and given _you_ a piggy-back ride after _you_ got so excited to train with Heat that _you_ fell and sprained _your_ ankle," Ashley said bitterly, and Iris blushed and chuckled marsheepishly. Yes, Ashley had carried Iris and both of the girls' things at the same time. Ashley was glad she was stronger than most girls her age. She had gained strength by chopping wood, smashing rocks, and working with Pokemon (some of the pokemon she had met where really heavy, Larvitar for example was 158.7 Ibs). Pikachu and Axew were riding on Bayleef's back as she walked beside Ashley. Bayleef smiled at the way her trainer and the funny-haired girl acted. She was happy to be traveling with Ash again.

"Hey, Ashley, I've been meaning to ask you about Bayleef. I've heard that grass Pokemon need to be really strong to learn Vine Whip, so how strong is Bayleef?"

"Actually, that's a common mistake. People think that a grass Pokemon has to be strong in order to learn Vine Whip, but really, it's different for every Pokemon. Pokemon like Bulbasaur have to be at level nine, but Bellsprout already knows it at level one. The strength and skill of it depends on practice. Bayleef and her pre-evolved and evolved forms, Chikorita and Meganium, don't learn Vine Whip by leveling up. It has to be an egg move they inherited from one of their parents. I think one of Bayleef's parents may have a Weepingbell or something."

_Actually, my male Mema was a Victreebel and my female Mema was a Bayleef, like I am now. I have eight older brothers and sisters. Two Bellsprout sisters and three Bellsprout brothers along with three Chikorita brothers. I think the only three of them I got along with were my Bellsprout brother that knew Magical Leaf right away, my oldest brother Bellsprout, and my brother that came before me. I called him Chika, _Bayleef said.

_Wow, that's a big family! _Axew said, amazed.

_Yeah, and considering I was the youngest of them all, I had to toughen up fast. It was always first come, first serve when one of our Memas brought home a good snack._

_Wow, no wonder you were always so spunky when we first met you, _Pikachu said.

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked even though she couldn't understand them.

"From my guesswork, I think they were talking about Bayleef's family and something about food," Ash said. This caused Iris, Axew, and Pikachu to sweatdrop, and Bayleef laughed.

_Wow, your trainer's good,_ Axew said.

_Well, she does have a lot of experience, _Pikachu said.

"You know, that still doesn't tell me how strong your Pokemon is," Iris said bluntly.

Ashley quickly grabbed her old Pokedex with Bayleef's data and said, "Here, use this. I don't know her exact level."

Iris took Ashley's old Pokedex and pointed it at Bayleef.

**System Error**

"Huh?"

"Pikachu and Axew need to get off Bayleef's back so the Pokedex can scan her correctly."

"Oh! I knew that!" Iris blushed as Bayleef put Axew and Pikachu on the ground and Iris pointed the Pokedex at Bayleef again.

**Bayleef, the Leaf Pokemon. The scent of spices comes from around its neck. The aroma acts as a stimulant to restore health.**

**Level: 50**

**Moves: Vine Whip, Body Slam, Tackle, Giga Drain, Razor Leaf, Solar Beam, Synthesis**

Iris's jaw dropped.

"Wow, I guess all that training payed off, huh, Bayleef," Ash laughed as Axew and Pikachu got on Bayleef's back again. Bayleef laughed too, but she was laughing at Iris.

"Level 50! What level do Bayleefs usually evovle at?"

"Level 32; they evolve to Meganiums," Ashley said as they got into the city. She paused when she saw a red-head cross the street.

"Excuse me!" Ashley called out to him. He turned and blinked at them. "Sorry to bother you, but could you tell me where the Pokemon Center is? I want to get Iris's ankle looked at and find a good place to sleep."

"Sure!" the red-head said and looked both ways before walking over to them. "Come on, I'll show you the way since I'm heading in that direction myself.

"Your Bayleef could have evolved at level 32! It's at level 50! Why hasn't it evovled yet?" Iris said loudly, surprising the red-head and Ashley. Ashley winced and guessed that Iris had come out of her shock.

"Okay, first of all, Iris, Bayleef is a 'she' not an 'it'. Second, if you yell in my ear again, I will make you walk by yourself on your sprained ankle to the Pokemon Center while carrying both of our things. Third, I don't care if my Pokemon evolve or not. As long as they're happy and healthy, I'm happy. Pikachu was my starter Pokemon; he's strong and could have evolved years ago, but he chose to stay as he is. Right, buddy?"

"Pika-chu!" _That's right!_

"See, and besides, Bayleef is still trying to decide if she wants to evolve or not," Ash ranted. Then, she quietly thought to herself, 'If she does decide to evolve I hope there won't be a problem between Sceptile and her, considering what happened with the last Meganium he met'.

"Okay, okay, I didn't mean to strike a chord with you, Ms. Farmer. It's just that a lot of Pokemon trainers train their Pokemon to evolve as quickly as they can."

"Yeah. Sorry, I just have had a long list of people telling me to evovle my Pokemon. It's kind of become a touchy subject."

"Err… Ms. Farmer. Weird thing to call someone. Although you do kinda look the part… along with being part mummy."

*sigh* "I actually can take most of these off now. I just haven't had time. The only places I still need them on are my back and neck. **(duckielover151- And seeing as she was carrying Iris on her back, that had to hurt…) (weirn018- Or really annoy her… or sting really badly…or both, most likely both)**I think I'll wear a turtle neck to hide them though. I'm getting tired of people asking if I'm okay when they see me. And I'm a rancher, not a farmer, that's just a nickname a friend gave me. My name's Ashley Ketchum, the girl on my back is Iris."

The red-head nodded. "My name is Chili. C'mon, we better get you guys to the Pokemon Center before it closes," Chili said as he led the group to the Pokemon Center. Ashley had to walk a little faster to keep up with Chili. They just made it there in time to book a room and get their Pokemon healed. The girls said goodbye to Chili as he rushed home and then gladly went to bed.

**-Striaton Gym/ Restaurant-**

"Guys! You'll never believe what just happened!" Chili called out to his brothers as he got inside. They paused from their tasks of cleaning up to look at their clearly excited brother.

Cress looked at Cilan only to get a shrug. Cress then turned to their younger red-headed brother. "What happened, Chili?"

"Well, I was coming back here and I met two girls on their way to the Pokemon Center." Cilan and Cress sighed and both thought, 'Should have known it was about girls'. "And the older of the two was carrying the younger on her back for a while, but it was the Pokemon that were with them that was reallyexciting to see!" This got the other two's attention.

"They had an Axew, a Bayleef, and a Pikachu following them!"

"Sounds exciting, but I think I'll have to see it to believe it," Cress said, half skeptically, half interested.

"Well, it's our day off tomorrow so we can go and see for ourselves," Cilan said. He wanted to see these Pokemon and hoped that this wasn't one of Chili's (rare) tall tales.

**-Pokemon Center, 7:30 AM, Next Day-**

The three gym leaders walked into the Pokemon Center and saw Nurse Joy, who was sitting at the front desk.

"Hello, Cress, Cilan, Chili. What can I do for you today?" Nurse Joy asked politely.

"Hey, Nurse Joy. I wanted to have my brothers meet Iris and Ashely. Are they still here in the PokeCenter?"

Nurse Joy nodded. "Yes, they are. They're eating breakfast in their room. It's room D12, just remember to knock."

Chili nodded before running to the room in excitement with Cress and Cilan following calmly behind him.

**-Room D12, with Iris and Ashley-**

"I could have gone down to eat, you know. My ankle is feeling a lot better," Iris whined. She was sitting in the bed and eating breakfast from her tray. Heat and Axew ate their Pokefood while sitting next to her.

"And risk it hurting again later? I don't think so, young lady. You're staying in bed until tomorrow. If you even think of getting out of bed and going somewhere that is not the bathroom, I'll have Bayleef sit on you to make you stay," Ash said. Her mother's mother-henning genes taking full affect. And she was still a bit annoyed with her after yesterday.

Iris glanced at Ashley. "You wouldn't dare."Ashley glared back. "Try me." The glaring contest lasted a while, but Ashley's stubborness that could very well surpass her own Tauros's made her win in the end. Iris looked away and huffed before finishing her breakfast.

Ashley nodded and watched Iris, this being a relaxation day for the team. Bayleef was curled up around Ashley. Tepig was at the foot of the bed, napping. Oshawott was eating the Pokefood on the nightstand. Pidove was perched on Ashley's head with Pikachu and Pansy on each shoulder. A knock on the door caught the girls' attention.

"Who is it?" Ashley called.

"It's me, Chili! I wanted to introduce you to my brothers!"

"Come in!"

They watched as the door opened.

_-To Be Continued-_

**Review Please! We don't own Pokemon!**

**Poll: Should Bayleef evolve?**

**1-Yes**

**2-No**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five: Mee the Brothers, Part Two**

_Thank Victini Chili remembered to knock first. I don't want them to think we're rude_, Cilan thought as they walked into the room.

As they entered, the brothers saw two girls and eight Pokemon. One was a dark-skinned girl with wild purple hair with an Axew and Pansear. She looked to be about ten.

The second girl had black hair and what looked like a farmer's tan. She was looking over her shoulder (or straining her neck, trying to see over Pikachu's head). The brother's couldn't see her face, but she looked to be sixteen years old. A Bayleef, Pikachu, Oshawott, Tepig, Pansage, and Pidove were all hovering close to her or actually on her.

Cilan's eyes lit up at the sight of Pikachu and Cress's eyes did the same when he spotted Bayleef. Cilan went over and picked up Pikachu in excitement.

"A Pikachu, it's really a Pikachu!" You could hear the pure joy in his voice as he said this. He soon started turning Pikachu every which way, attempting to get a better look. "A shiny coat, eyes ebony brown with a spark of determination. It's such a strong combination that it is a true sight to behold," he said before giving Pikachu a 'hello'.

"Um, excuse me…" said a voice, gaining Cilan's attention. "Can you please put Pikachu down? You're making him uncomfortable."

"Oops, sorry, little guy," Cilan said, placing Pikachu on the end of the bed.

"Pi-ka-cha," _Um, it's okay, _said Pikachu before he turned and jumped onto Ashley's shoulder just as she was standing up. Ashley turned to get a good look at the three.

Chili, the red-head the girls had been talking to last night was talking to Iris about Heat. Both looked like children being promised ice cream.

A blue-haired boy was calmly, yet very happily, petting Bayleef while cooing to her. Bayleef appeared to be enjoying the attention. The blunet was dressed in the same waiter-like outfit as Chili only with a blue tie instead of a red one.

She looked at the last male in the room, and her eyes widened slightly. He had green hair and eyes. He had a marsheepish look on his face, and a small blush was dusting his cheeks. Ashley thought he looked cute, but pushed that thought away. Nevertheless, she smiled.

Cilan blushed when he saw the girl fully for the first time. Her hair was cut in a boyish bob cut. She had a z-like mark on each cheek. Her chocolate brown eyes went well with her coal black hair and tan skin. She was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck and dark blue overalls. Her face held some childish characteristics. All in all, very cute in a country girl sort of way. His stomach filled with Beautiflies. He scratched his chin.

"Nice to meet you. My name's Ashley Ketchum. This is my pal, Pikachu, and my Pokemon: Bayleef, Oshawott, Tepig, Pansy, and Pidove. The girl on the other bed is Iris," Ashley said, and the green-haired boy quickly composed himself.

Cilan bowed slightly and returned the smile. "My name is Cilan, and this is my brother, Cress," he said, introducing his blue-haired brother.

"Greetings," Cress said as he bowed like Cilan had. "And you already know our little brother, Chili." The youngest brother gave a goofy smile before bowing playfully.

"Nice to meet you," Ashley said again before glancing at the clock. "Oh, sorry, I have to go run some errands before I start training my Pokemon. Could one of you stay and make sure Iris stays in bed?"

"What?! Come on, I can move on my own!" Iris protested.

"You are not walking on your ankle until tomorrow, Iris! End of discussion!" Ashley shot back. When Iris tried to get up, Ashley sighed and closed her eyes. "Bayleef!"

"Bay!"

Soon there was the sound of someone being tackled and the mattress springs creaking under a heavier load.

"Ashley!" Iris yelled. Ashley opened her eyes to see Bayleef sitting on the other girl. She sighed again.

"I told you I would do it. Look, you may have all the time in the world to travel, but I don't. I have to be back at my ranch in about fifteen days. That's when I plan to work out the island's Pokemon system."

Iris and the three males blinked in confusion. It was Chili who asked, "Pokemon system?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. You see, I moved to the Vannile Islands a while ago. The only Pokemon trainers or people with pokemon partners they have are me, the construction worker Lunetta, the town doctor Jun, and Harvey, who runs the General Store. I plan to make it so that kids and adults on the island have the choice to become trainers. I already talked to some professors about it, and they agreed to help me get it started."

"Wow, sounds like a lot of work," Iris commented.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it will be. I already gave Professors Oak and Juniper permission to set up a transition system on the land I was given to allow for easier exchanges between Unova and the other regions."

"Hey, what type of Pokemon live on Vannile Island?" Chili asked.

"Well, it's actually Vannile Island**s**. There are four of them. The main island where the town is has Blitzle, Rattat, Sewaddle, Cottonee, Petilil, Sentret, Ducklett, Caterpie, Shinx, and a lot of others. There is a mountain on the island closest to the main island, an island with a volcano next to that one, and a kinda grassland on the last one. So basically, there is a lot of different Pokemon from each region."

"Wow, that's a lot of different types of Pokemon. Wish I could see it for myself," Cress said, impressed.

"Why don't you? Just ask Professor Juniper to call Mayor Rosa and Rosa would most likely be happy to send Sai, the guy that runs the boat to Vannile Islands, to come get you at the port. The islands aren't that far away."

"Well, that's nice, but… well, you see, my brothers and I are Gym leaders, and we also run a restaurant. It would be hard to find the time to go there with our work needing to be done," Cilan said, even though he would have liked to visit her home and maybe get to know her better.

"Hm? Why can't you? Does the GL level rule not apply in Unova?" Ashley asked, and the other four people in the room got confused looks. "The GL level rule is a rule set up by a region's Pokemon League. In a nutshell, it says that if a Gym Leader or Leaders feel that they are not getting good quality training done at the gym, or if they don't have what they need to properly train their Pokemon, they can call the Pokemon League to set up and train a temporary replacement so that the Leader may leave the Gym for a short time."

The four pairs of eyes grew wide with this information. Cress was the first to break out of the shock. "What about the restaurant?" the blue-haired boy asked calmly.

"The replacements do whatever the Gym Leaders did, including run a second job. Or, at least, that's what the Gym Leaders I talked to said," Ashley answered.

The brothers glanced at each other then nodded in some unspoken agreement. Cress walked out of the room, Chili walked over to Iris, and Cilan stood very still. Ashley raised an eyebrow, looked towards Cilan, and asked, "What's going on?"

Cilan blushed. "Well, Cress is going to look up the GL level rule, Chili is going to keep Iris company while you go out. And I was, um, well… hoping you would let me help you with your errands."

Ashley smiled. "Sure." She recalled all her Pokemon and left the room with Cilan by her side and Pikachu on her shoulder.

…**At the Store…**

"So, what are you here to get, Ashley?"

"Pokemon food, trail bars, some plant seeds if we can find them here, and stickers."

Cilan stopped and blinked. "Stickers?" He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

Ashley giggled, causing Cilan to blush. "They're for my Pokeballs. While _I _can tell which Pokemon is in which Pokeball, Harvey can't, and the different stickers will help him know which are whose when he watches them."

"Oh? Is Harvey a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, he is, though he acts more like a brother most of the time. Two of the few things about him I wish I could change are that he's one of the damned group of people who are perfectly fine and happy waking up at 4:15 each morning and his Solika."

"Solika?"

"Oh, sorry, it's an allergy to a certain wild flower in the region he was born in. He used to have to wear a breathing mask and carry around an oxygen mask most of the time. The worst part about it is that it drove a wedge between him and his little brother Harley. You see, their parents divorced, on friendly terms, when Harley was a baby. Harvey used to go and visit his mom and Harley during the times of year when the wild flower was either dead or close to it. He did that so Harley wouldn't see the mask and worry about him. Then something happened, don't ask what- I don't know, and the two haven't spoken to each other in years."

"That must be hard on him. My brothers and I fight sometimes, but I couldn't imagine not talking to them for years. Just the thought leaves a sour taste in my mouth," Cilan said as they continued shopping.

"Yeah. Karina, the librarian and chef's daughter says it looks like he's planning to do something about it soon. She, Harvey, and Sai have been best friends for a long time, so she should know. Sai…is a bit odd, but he's a good guy that has a way with the sea… and ghost Pokemon apparently."

Cilan paused for a minute and questioned, "Ghost Pokemon?"

Ashley sighed. "You see…"

…**Flashback…**

Elle was happily following Ash to the docks when suddenly…

"DUDE! GIMME BACK MY PANTS; THOSE AIN'T HEADGEAR, BRO!"

Ashley, Pikachu, and Buizel jumped when they heard Sai's angry shout. Soon a Drifloon, Lampent, Gastly, Haunter, and Banette with a familiar pair of shorts on its head ran past them on foot, Sai following.

"Oh, so it's the last Tuesday of the month already," Elle said, looking unfazed by what had just happened.

"Huh?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know. Well, that happens every first Friday of the month and last Tuesday of the month. Sai fishes in a stream near the old abandoned houses where the ghost pokemon live and the ghost pokemon get bored with having nothing to do so they mess with Sai to have some fun. Don't worry about it, everything will be ok between both groups at the end of the day."

After parting ways with Elle later in the day, Ashley and her Pokemon were about to enter Harvey's store when Sai ran past them again, still without his shorts and carrying a knocked out Banette to the Clinic with the other worried ghosts behind him.

"DOCTOR JUN! BANETTE NEEDS HELP, BRO!" Sai shouted before running into the clinic.

"I knew it was the last Tuesday of the month," Harvey said, poking his head outside the door with Lady the Furret doing a good impersonation of a scarf while Harvey's new Swablu, Cottonhat, perched on his head.

"Okay, how could Sai have knocked out Banette if he doesn't have a Pokemon and Banette can go intangible?" Ashley asked.

"No one knows; I find you keep your sanity longer if you ask less questions and just go with the flow when it comes to Sai's unusualness," Harvey said as Princess (his Mightyena now sporting a bright pink bow around her neck,) and Knight (a male Kirlia) came up to stand beside Harvey.

"I'll take your word for it," Ashley sighed as she was led into the store.'_These people are as honest and open about their lives as the people back in Pallet.'_

_Time Skip_

Ashley, Buizel, and Pikachu were stopping by the abandoned lighthouse near the staircase that went up to her ranch to pick up Totodile, Kingler, (Ashley switched out a few of her Pokemon so the water types could get some training done) and Corphish when they saw the water Pokemon eating sandwiches with the ghost Pokemon while Sai fished happily. A bandaged Banette, who had not given up his 'headgear', sat next to Sai, humming a happy tune.

Large sweat drops appeared on the back on the back of the heads of the three who'd just arrived.

…**End Flashback…**

Needless to say, Cilan had no idea how to react. Other than being completely speechless, that is.

Ashley chuckled at Cilan's shocked expression. "Yeah, I know."

"Pi-ka-chu." _Ash, look. _

Ashley looked at Pikachu and Pansy, who had come out of her Pokeball halfway through Ash's story. Pikachu pointed to Pansy, who was holding a sparkly cowboy hat. A _really_ sparkly cowboy hat.

"Okay, I'm all for a hat, but did you really have to choose something so… glittery?"

"Pan-pan-age-sage!" _Yeah, it's very pretty! _Pansy said, pushing the hat towards Ashley, who laughed and took it with a smile. She saw that the hat was a good price and added it to her basket. What makes her pokemon happy is all good in her book and Pansy looked like she really wanted Ashley to wear it.

"All done."

Cilan and Ashley paid for everything and walked out of the shop, Ashley wearing her new hat.

"Petilil!" a female yelled out in concern. Cilan and Ashley saw a girl run off with a little green Pokemon in her arms. A boy with a big bear of a Pokemon stood where the girl had come from and laughed, pointing at her.

"When will other people learn that grass-type Pokemon are nothing but weaklings!" he shouted after her.

Both Cilan and Ashley were angry with the boy. Ashley was sure that Cilan would be able to handle the situation calmly, but to hell with that! She shoved the bags she was carrying at her friend and walked up to the boy.

"Hey, kid! Ya care to prove that opinion? I happen to have a grass Pokemon that can destroy that overgrown teddy bear!" Ashley said, grabbing hold of Bayleef's Pokeball.

The boy snorted. "Whatever, your loss. Ha ha!"

Pikachu smirked. _Oh, you are so going _down _kid. We don't call her volcano Ash for nothing. When you piss her off, she wipes out everything in her path._

Ashley brought out Bayleef who glared at the Beartic without a hint of fear._ "Hey your going down you overgrown Teddiursa!"_ Bayleef said.

Beartic roared in anger."_I'll have you know I'm the right size for my kind thank you very much you over grown weed!"_

_"Weed! Thats it no holding back!"_

**Review please!**

**Attention: in the next chapter, Bayleef will evolve. So to those of you that didn't want her to evolve am sorry, but Bayleef will still have the same personality so you'll see Ash being tackled to the ground by a Meganium in the future. I plan to have Ashley get a few Mareep for her ranch and evolve one or two to an Ampharos to work at the lighthouse.**

**Poll #1:What names should the Mareep have?**

**Poll #2; What Pokemon would you like Cilan and Iris to catch when they visit Vannile Island? Not too many rare ones please.**

****Poll #3**Which of Ashley's Pokemon do you think should evolve? (Not Pikachu)**

****Poll #4**What new Pokemon should Ashley catch? (She will still have canon Pokemon, like Snivy.)**

**We don't own Pokemon!**

**Duckielover151: Once again, I would like to apologize for the extremely late update. I've had this chapter, sitting in my room, ready to be typed for a long time. It's been a really busy school year, and I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6:**

"Beartic start by freezing that weed with Ice Beam!"

"Bayleaf use your Vine Whip to knock Beartic's aim off!" Bayleaf used her Vine Whip to slap the Ice types face while he was still charging the Ice Beam and caused him to fire the Ice Beam to Bayleaf's left and to freeze the nearby trees and ground. Ash then smirked."Bayleaf, use Solar Beam, our way!" Bayleaf gained the same smirk that her trainer had and started charging that attack.

"Don't take that Beartic! Give that thing a taste of your Slash!" the boy said irritated. Sure the grass types attack wasn't very effective but the amount of damage it did give Beartic showed that the grass type was at a higher level of experience and needed to be taken out quickly. Beartic shuck off the dazed feeling it had and ran at Bayleaf with his claw ready to take a cut out of the pokémon that gave him a hit that he would surely feel later. Before his hit could land however Bayleaf surprised everyone(a crowd had started to form) that had not seen Ash battle before, she swallowed the Solar Beam. Bayleaf, now glowing with a green fire like energy dodged the attack and used Body Slam to send Beartic skidding back to his trainer's side.

* * *

><p>(Quick POV Change)<p>

"Wow, I've never seen that done before. What an amazing combination! Spicy with Ash and her Pokemon's burning passion for battle, a truly amazing battle tactic. Pansage come out, I believe we could learn a lot from this battle." Cilan said letting his Pansage out to watch the battle.

"_Wow, never thought that I would see a Solar Beam used like that._" Pansage said with a bit of aw. Pokémon can be somewhat aware of what is happening around their trainer even while in their pokéballs if they so choose and since Pansage was his partner's only Pokémon so far he wanted to be as aware as possible.

" _Yeah cool isn't it? I don't know that move yet but Bay-sis said she would teach me later when I have some more battling experience."_ Pansy said causing Pansage to turn to her. When he saw her he blushed and shyly turned his attention back to the battle.

"_Th-that sounds nice."_ Pansage said while leaving Pansy confused about why he suddenly had a personality change.

* * *

><p>(Back to the Battle)<p>

" Beartic Icicle Crash!"

""Bayleaf, Razor Leaf!" The two attacks clashed and the Razor Leaf broke the Ice attack and hit Beartic but chuncks of the Ice still hit Bayleaf and cause a bit of damage.

"Gigi Drain, than Slam!" Bayleaf drained the Beartic's energy and started to charge at the Ice type.

"Beartic, Icy Wind!" The Icy Wind hurt Bayleaf but she continued to charge through the attack and slammed into her foe, knocking the wind out of his lungs before quickly backing off, her breathing a bit heavy.

"Bayleaf Synthesis!"

"Icicle Crash quickly Beartic!" the ice types trainer said knowing that the Solar Beam power up, plus the sunny weather would equal a very quick and strong recovery.

The attack was heading toward Bayleaf who was concentrating on recovering lost energy.

"Bayleaf!" Ash called out in worry. Bayleaf's eye's narrowed as the ice made its way towards her, at the last second she used a quick Vine Whip to jump over the projectiles while still keeping the Synthesis going, but before she could land back on the ground a different glow covered in a different type of glow that caused many to shut their eye's for a minute. Ash on the other hand knew that glow and seen it so many times in the past that she wasn't that affected by it and knew what was happening right away. So when she saw a Meganium land on the ground she only paused for a millisecond to inwardly shout to the heavens in happiness. "Meganium: Razor Leaf, Vine Whip and Body Slam!"

Before anyone else had time to react Beartic was hit by the Razor Leaf, then wrapped in a tight Vine Whip around Beartic and pulled the ice type closer to it and gave him a powerful Body Slam. Beartic fell to the ground with swirls in his eye.

"Aw man! Return Beartic." The young man said upset at his loss.

"Way to go Meganium!" Ash said happily before she was tackled to the ground by the now bigger and heavier then before Grass Type which nuzzled her in happiness. "Ok, ok, I'm glad to see that evolving didn't change much, but please let me up. I gotta talk to Beartic's trainer." Laughed out Ash.

Her newly evolved Pokémon let her up with a smile on her face. Ash pat her Pokémon on the head and walked over to the now sulking boy. "Hey kid, why do you seem to have such a grudge against grass type Pokémon?"

"You don't need to know!" The boy said before storming off.

Ash blinked, "Well that was rude." Ash then turned and went over to Cilan and smiled at him before taking some of the bags. " Sorry for taking up more of your time then we originally planned. I just hate people doing things like that."

" What are you talking about? That battle was truly one that was a sight to see! Would you mind if we talk about it we get back to the PokeCenter?!" Cilan said excitedly.

Ash blushed a tiny bit, "Sure! Lets get going though." She said as Pikachu climbed up and on to her shoulder while Pansy was clinging onto Meganium's head as Meganium happily balanced the smaller Grass Type on her head. Pansage followed be Cilan's side while shyly sneaking a few glances at Pansy.

**Later that Night**

Ash sighed as she sat on the chair to the Pokémon Center's video phones. Her current team of Pokémon where siting off to the side. "Ok, listen up guys and girls," Ash said getting the attention of her Pokémon,"I plan to send a few of you to my home back at Pika-Pal Ranch along with Meganium to get some training with my more experienced Pokémon. Before I do, any volunteers?"

Pansy was the first to step forward, not wanting to leave her sis's company so soon. Next was Pidove then finily Tepig.

"Ok, so Meganium, Pansy, Pidove and Tepig will go to the Ranch and Pikachu and Oshawott will stay with me while I call up two others and keep two slots open for new friends. Remember to train well and have fun, ok?" Getting cheers and nods she returned everyone but Pikachu to there pokeballs. Turning, she dialed up her house number. After four rings she saw the icon that popped up that was for when one of the parties on the line didn't want their video on.

"Hello?" Harvey's voice came through the line.

"Hi Harvey. I'm calling to let you know that I'm sending overMganium and three other pokemon to the Ranch. I was hoping you could tell Sceptile that I need him to teach Pansy the moves Cut and help her with her egg move Bullet Seed, then ask Quilava to spar with her after Sceptile is done teaching her and she's had food. For Pidove can you ask Staraptor to teach her Aerial Ace and Swellow to teach her Pluck. For Tepig tell Infernape to teach him Rock Smash and the basic's for Overheat. Meganium, I want her to be on rest for a few days to get her used to her new form ok. Tell the more expirenced pokemon to take training slowly but don't be too lax. Thanks for doing this for me again. I'm sure your busy with training your own pokemon and running the store and yet your helping me with my ranch and training my pokemon.

"You're welcome hon, and I should be thanking you. When I'm over here your pokemon easily take my pokemon under their wings, so to speak, and help me learn how to work with my friends strangths. You also help me a lot missy so don't think I'm doing all the work here. Any news about your first flying type from old man Oak?"

"Yeah, its actually migration time for the Pidgeot evolution line so I'll have to wait a few months to find my pal again. The only reason the annoying Spearow line was there was because their flock migrates at a later date."

"Don't worry Ms. Farmer, you'll find your feathered friend again. So anyone you want me to send you?"

"Yeah can you send me-"***Thunk**Bang**Kurplunk!***" What the Buneary was that!" Ash asked in surprise as load sounds interrupted what she was saying and gave her a bit of a scare.

"Um, nothing! Nothing to worry about, now you where saying?" Harvey nervously laughed.

Ash sweat dropped as she knew that he was trying to take her attention away from the sounds and hiding something from her. Or at least trying to.

"Er, I was hoping you could send over Kirlia and I'll contact Professor Oak to send me Muk since I really should work on his training."

"That's great hun, I'll send her over right away." Harvey said hurriedly. Ash and Pikachu shared a look but just shrugged at each other before sending the four pokemon through the transfer system.

* * *

><p><strong>Pika-Pal Ranch<strong>

Harvey sighed as he took the four Pokémon out of the transfer system and put Kirlia's pokeball in the transfer system and sent her over. "Will that be all hun? I also promised Lunetta that I would help her with something too."

"No, I'm good. See ya!" Ash said, clearly coming of as confused

"Bye-Bye!" Harvey said before hanging up. He then let out a sigh of relief before turning to look at the other people and Pokémon in the home. "That was to close, way to close."

* * *

><p><strong>Ash A Short While Later<strong>

"Well that was strange, I wonder what was happening with Harvey... but then again it could just be the Pokémon causing a bit of trouble again. I wonder what the professor was doing? Seems to be a bit odd that he would leave Tracey in charge of the lab and leave again so soon after coming back to the lab in such a short amount of time. Oh well at least Tracey well help me get the phone number for the Foccey Ranch, while I try to find Lara's number. Right Pikachu?"

"Pika-Pi!

Ash saw someone sit on the same bench as her from the corner of her eye. She turned and saw Cilan sit beside her, giving her a smile.

"Hey-a Cilan, what's up?" Ash said giving Cilan a smile of her own.

Cilan's smile suddenly became a bit sheepish and an almost unseen blush(Pikachu saw it),"Um, Ash I was hoping to ask you something..."

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter<strong>

**Please review.**

** A special thanks to Pokepika's Haunt for helping me fix the mistakes I made while typing up this chapter myself to save my cousin duckie lover 151from having to type it up like she does to most of the stories I wright out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

"I was wondering if I could travel with you and Iris?" Cilan asked.

Ash smiled brightly. She could tell there was something else he had wanted to ask too but let it drop. "Sure! I'd really like that!"

Pikachu smirked. "Pi-Pi-Pika-Chu-Ch-Cha."

Ash flashed a look of understanding. Pikachu had just said, _Ash got a boyfriend._ She picked him up off her shoulder and held him in front of her face. "You be quiet," she said, touching her and Pikachu's noses together.

Pikachu smiled. He would tease his partner later. Maybe he could tease Meganium and Sceptile, too, if anything was going on between them. The two had sneaked glances at each other. Even Ash had been able to tell they liked each other, and she was more than a bit romantically dense.

**…At the Poke Pika Ranch…**

_Hey, Mr. Torterra, what does 'mate' mean? _Gible asked.

Torterra blinked in confusion. _Why do you ask? _

_I heard Sceptile and Meganium talking. He said that even if he was a bit awkward with her new evolution, it didn't change the fact that he wanted to be her mate. That was a while ago, and just now they were talking about 'hatchlings'…_

Torterra sighed with dread, knowing what was coming next.

_Where do babies come from? _Gible asked, making the bigger Pokémon wince.

_Oi! Land shark! _a gruff Pokemon's voice called, drawing attention to Princess the Mightyena. _The construction Pokémon need your help making the ground soft._

_Okay! _Gible called cheerfully before running up to Princess. As the two walked away from Torterra, he asked, _Where do babies come from, Princess?_

_Sex,_ Princess answered without missing a beat.

Torterra winced again as the two walked out of his line of sight. Dang Dark-type was too honest and blunt. He honestly felt bad for Gible, knowing he was going to get an answer this time.

_Hey, Tor, what's with the face? _another voice asked, and he felt a light weight land in the small tree on his back.

_Gible is getting the sex talk from Princess, _Torterra said to his friend Swellow.

Swellow winced. _Ouch._

_Yeah…_

**…With Ash, Time Skip…**

Ash let out an aggravated sigh. First the event with Professor Funnel and the dream Pokémon. Then getting lost after catching Snivy with Kirlia's help. Darmanitan and the Bell, Axew getting caught in Scolipede's 'horns', the Dwebble incident, Bianca and Mincino, and then finally arriving at Nacrene City only to find out Prof. Oak wasn't at his lab and her mother was not home. It had been a long few weeks. Granted, there were good times, but she really wanted to see her first Flying-type again.

Right now Hawes was telling them about the mask in the case and Ash couldn't help but stare at it.

"That's not a replica," Ash said bluntly, causing the others to look at her. "That mask has an aura, meaning it's part of or connected to a living thing."

"Well, that can't be right. It was sent with the rest of the artifacts by-"

"From the desert! The Pokedex says Yamask lives there. I've heard or seen weirder things than a Pokémon purposely or accidentally hitching a ride in cargo. Just take it out of the case, and leave it with a bowl of poffins at night, and I'm pretty sure things will calm down after that," Ash snapped, eyes glowing blue for a fraction of a minute then fade, only to wince at Hawes's flinch. "Sorry. I just really want to see my Pidgeot again, and I'm kind of running out of patience. She was one of my first Pokémon that I ever caught. I just want to deliver the fossil I have to Lenora, go home, and rest for the day, then go to Pallet Town to ask Prof. Oak if he found Pidgeot's flock yet since every time I try to look for it I never find it."

"That's okay. I was never a trainer, but I made friends with a Ducklett when I was younger. Now that he's a Swanna and travels with his flock, I don't see him that often. I do enjoy when I can see him, though," Hawes said in understanding, patting Ash on the shoulder. It made her feel slightly better.

"And now Watchdog and Lillipup will be able to stop worrying," a female voice said, drawing their attention to a strong-looking woman with dark skin and green hair. "Those two have scratched that glass and watching that mask for a while. I thought it may be a real mask, too. I've been looking for something for a while, but I haven't been able to find a way to prove it."

"Lenora," Hawes greeted, happy to see his wife.

"I can have Watchdog watch the mask at night to explain that putting its mask on display was on accident. Now you said something about a fossil," she prompted.

Ash sighed in relief and handed her the wrapped-up fossil. "Here."

"How would you three like to stay the night at our home? That way you can continue in the morning. A good night's rest would do you some good," Lenora said. The last part was directed at Ash, and she knew it. Before she could say anything, her Pokegear beeped, letting her know she had a message. She pulled out her Pokegear.

**To: **Ashley K.

**From: **Delia K. (AKA, Mom)

Hello, sweetie! I wanted to let you know that Prof. Oak found something interesting about Pidgeot's flock. Don't worry, nothing bad. Relax for the day and we'll meet you at Pika-Pal Ranch tomorrow or the day after. Oh, and send your new egg to Rosa for a bit. Teleporting too much isn't good for it. Love you, sweetie!

Ash sighed. "I can stay for the night. Do you have a transfer machine, though?"

"Yup, it's in the back. I'll show you, then we can go to Hawes's and my house. What about you two?" Lenora asked the other two, who were arguing about supernatural and science… again. They didn't even seem to notice Lenora speaking to them.

"Oh, for the love of Articuno. Iris! Cilan! Stop arguing like five-year-olds! Pack up; we're staying at… I'm sorry, I didn't get your last name."

"Conneil," Lenora supplied with a chuckle.

"The Conneil's. Honestly, Cilan, I expected more from you. Just drop it. And Iris, don't you think that a dragon master should be a bit more mature?!"

"Your friends right kid. People trying to be dragon masters have to be paitiont since dragon types are one of the hardest to raise. Drayden the Gym Leader of Opelucid City spent much of his early years helping get his into top condition." Lenora said with a chuckle.

Iris looked torn between wanting to shout that she wasn't a kid and asking more about Drayden. Her curiousity about the dragon type leader won out soon. "You know more about Drayden's earlier career?" Iris asked shyly.

" Know? I used to be his traveling partner! Oh boy the looks we got traveling, an adventurous normal type trainer, a calm dragon type and our third compaction was a bookworm ghost trainer who's the family member/mentor of one of Unova élite four. No one could tell how we got to be such good friends, especially with how Drayden always seemed to be annoyed with our antics!" Lenora laughed as she put her hand on Iris's shoulder. "Oh the stories I could tell about old Dray. Did you know that his hair has always been white? Its how everyone always thinks he's much older than me. Truth is we're only a few months apart. I really should shave that guy's beard to remind people of that."

"Really tell me more!" Iris said excitedly.

"I will just let me show your friend the transfer machine first then I'll start talking on the way to the house." Lenora said before gentially rubbing the purple-haired girls head.

" Come this way." Lenora said to Ash as she started walking down the hallway. Ash did that and tranfered her egg. The way to the married couple's house was filled with the sound of Lenora talking to Iris with Cilan and Hawes quietly exchanging some food recipes.

* * *

><p><strong>Later That Night<strong>

Ash sighed as walked around the yard giving the pokemon some extra attention. surrounded by pokemon put Ash in a happier state of mind. Even Lenora's pokemon went up to her for attention. It made her smile.

" Is this where you relax most?" Ash turned and saw Lenora leaning on the porch railing. "Surrounded by pokemon?"

Ash grinned. "Yeah it is, I've always loved being with pokemon."

"How about a battle? There is still some time before dark." Lenora asked with a grin.

"Sure! My pokemon and I love battles. " Ash said with a grin.

"Alright, three on three?" Lenora grinned and the two gave each other space for the battle field. "Rufflet your up."

The little eagle like pokemon flew to its spot.

" A flying/normal type, Snivy want to try battling him?"

Ash's question was answered by a smirk and the grass type walking on to the field.

"Alright lets start this off with Peck!" Lenora said.

"Wait for it," The flying type got close to Snivy. "Now Leaf Storm to dodge!" Snivy spun out-of-the-way of the attack as she summond her attack. The leafs hitting Rufflet as Snivy seemingly danced out-of-the-way.

"Vine Whip to grab his wing Snivy." Snivy quickly grabbed the small birds wing.

"Fury attack!" Ash winced as Rufflet stricked Snivy's vine. Snivy cringed slightly in pain.

" Pull him close and use attract followed up by Tackle!" Snivy quickly pulled Rufflet in and winked making little hearts appear. Soon Rufflet had hearts in his eyes even when Snivy Tackled him and let go of his wing.

Lenora laughed and went over to pick up the little flying type. "Alright fist round to you, lets not try to make the others pokemon faint. It may still be an ok time to battle but its a little late to have to go the pokemon center." She said as she put Rufflet next to what she beleaved the pokemons much more experienced and evolved father. The Braviary tucked the Rufflet under his wing and started to preen the smaller bird.

Ash smiled than picked Snivy and carried her to the back porch where the others were watching the match. " Could you heal Snivy for me Cilan?"

"Of course Ash," Cilan said taking hold of Snivy gently.

Ash smiled "Thanks Cilan." Ash walked back to the battle field.

" Funny how she heads straight towords you Cilan." Iris said slyly.

" What do you mean Iris?" Cilan asked confused at the way she said those words...until Dwebble and Pansage tugged on his pants and pointed twords Hawes who had a bag of pokemon medicine ready. Hawes handed Cilan a potion for the red mark on Snivy's vine. He than had a small blush on his cheecks.

"Alright do you want to choose first again or should I?" Lenora shrugged at Ash's question but a Deerling and Oshawott both took spots on the field. Ash barely held back a snort of amusement. Both looked equally young and prideful. "I think its been decided for us.

Lenora laughed lightly, "Sure does."

Soon after that the battle stared.

* * *

><p><em>Hey Gible what's wrong? <em>Totodile asked his friend, who looked a little freaked out. Pansy was sitting by him looking on in confusion.

_Babies... _Gible whimpered.

_Huh? _Totodile tilted his head in confusion.

Noctowl, who was in the tree above the two, just sighed. _Oh boy, better ask Momo and Miss Milk to tell the kids bed time stories tonight._

**Chapter end. I hope you reader enjoyed it. Sorry for the short battle, the two in the next one I'll try to make more exciting. Please review.**


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